The present invention relates in general to microwave detecting and more particularly concerns novel apparatus and techniques for providing an economical broadband microwave detector of excellent electrical performance in a compact physical package relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture that is especially useful in detecting microwave energy at frequencies of both 10.525 GHz and 24.125 GHz.
Common frequency ranges for microwave velocity indicators are 10.525 GHz and 24.125 GHz. A typical detector incorporates a microwave horn feeding a waveguide and conventional diodes located in a cavity shorted at the end from the horn with one diode typically connected to a low frequency signal, such as 1 kHz for chopping received microwave energy and the other diode functioning as a detector to provide a signal at the chopping frequency representative of the intensity of microwave energy incident at the horn mouth. A problem with the prior art approach is that the assembly is relatively costly and difficult to assemble, one problem being obtaining the proper positioning of the diodes.
Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide an improved microwave detector.
It is another object of the invention to achieve the preceding object with an assembly that is relatively easy and inexpensive to fabricate with relatively unskilled production personnel while maintaining good electrical performance on a production basis.